Uxbridge house for £25 is big internet hit

A builder who set up a competition for someone to win his house for £25 has already received more than 100,000 hits on his website.

Kirk Clugston, 49, decided to start the competition to get rid of the bungalow in Hill Rise, Ruislip, after he spent more than £100,000 refurbishing it but could not sell it because of the credit crunch.

The Uxbridge Gazette published a story about the competition on October 29 when Mr Clugston launched his website, www.winmybungalow.com and since then it has already received more than 100,000 hits from keen house hunters.

The father-of-two of Swakeleys Drive, Ickenham, said: "I am really surprised about the amount of hits and I think a lot of the them have come from people reading the Gazette.

"Everyone is talking about it and there's a real buzz around the area.

"I want to catch the Christmas market because the I think the tickets will make good presents."

Mr Clugston bought the dilapidated two-bedroom bungalow for £372,500 in January and planned to sell it for £570,000 after turning it into a four-bedroom, three-bathroom home, but the credit crunch has made it impossible.

He is still finalising the last details of the competition, but it is expected to go live on the website by the end of the week.

A total of 28,000 tickets need to be sold for someone to win the house, but if not, the winner will get whatever money is in the bank.

Players will also need to answer three questions to enter the competition because it cannot be classed as a raffle under the Gaming Commission rules.

Mr Clugston said: "When people go on to the website they will be asked three questions out of a bank of more than 200.

"That way you never know which question you will get, but they are general knowledge and are classed as easy.

"You have to pay the £25 first, but there's no time limit on the questions and people can enter as many times as they want.

"The competition is run through the solicitors and PayPoint will be doing all the transactions.

"They keep all the money in their account until the draw is done.

"I am really pleased we have got them on board because people will know their money is safe."

The competition deadline has not been finalised but it will be near the end of April next year and Mr Clugston plans to get a celebrity to hand over the house to the winner.